All blog posts
Two videos I shot for Epicurious, and a third currently being edited, are kicking off their new series “Well Equipped.” In the videos, posted on their YouTube channel, the Epicurious team chooses gadgets and asks me to try them, critique the design and instantaneously suggest improvements. In the first video I try 7 gadgets the...Continue reading
I met up with Mark Bergin while he was in New York recently. Mark runs the Driven x Design Awards program, held in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, as well as Hong Kong, Shanghai, Berlin, London, Paris and New York. We taped an episode of the podcast Design in the Boardroom, recorded while sitting on a...Continue reading
Here’s a link to an infographic explaining patents, a quick guide.This is the second version – I created the original version for a design journal published in 1995! I found the journal recently (gong through some old boxes in my basement) and thought I would update it and re-publish it here. You can find a...Continue reading
Following up on my speaker article in Premier Guitar magazine’s July 2017 issue is this August 2017 article explaining how guitar pickups work, Guitar Pickups 101. Pickups are based on the same basic principles as speakers – how coils of wire, placed in the vicinity of magnets, behave. The fundamental principles are 5th grade science...
Design students visiting NYC from Aalborg stopped touring the city long enough to attend a mini-workshop on biomechanics that I was asked to conduct. The talk was relevant to their final school project, which looked at physical aspects of design. The workshop covered basics in biomechanics, and a few demonstrations. For example, holding a 5...Continue reading
I spent a day in the Epicurious/Condé Nast studio reviewing a collection of kitchen gadgets selected by the Epicurious team. It was the first time, I believe, that kitchen tools underwent this type of ergonomic analyses at Epicurious. Some performed far better than others. Mainly, it was fun to put them through their paces,...Continue reading
Winners of Ukrainian Design: The Very Best of 2019 will be announced tomorrow. It was great to be one of the judges. The results will be posted on their site. Congratulations to all who received recognition, and all who entered.
Kantar is a global data, insights and consulting company. Kantar Australia has been producing a series of podcasts called Bite Size Insights on various topics, mostly centered around brands. On the theme of diversity the Kantar team invited me to record Episode 8, discussing design and gender, design at the edges,...Continue reading
A discussion on how hackathons can often be exclusionary – and five tips on how to address the lack of gender diversity. Here’s the link to the article in Fast Company.
The winners of the iF Awards for Design and Innovation at Computex Taipei 2012 were announced last week. Photos and descriptions of the winning products are on the artdesigncafé site. Congratulations to the winning entries, and thanks to the iF Branch Office Taiwan for inviting me to be on the jury. Here’s a video of interviews...Continue reading
The team at Fishman Acoustic Amplification goes electric – developing Fluence, a pickup system that does away with traditional copper coil windings, instead “printing” windings for super-consistant results. Between that, their method for controlling the pull of the magnets, and equalizing the output signal, they have managed to consistently replicate the sounds coming from best...Continue reading
The way we work obviously has a tremendous effect on what we ultimately produce. Yet many of us – designers, engineers and other members of product and package development teams – can fall into a work routine that in itself may be ready for a redesign. On that note, here’s a link to a blog post I wrote...Continue reading
Just returned from the Cannes Lions festival in France. While this 61 year old program has historically been focused on advertising, this year marks the first time they have included a “product design” category in the program. My thoughts on why this makes sense – because big companies no longer own the media. We don’t...Continue reading
Did I mention the award winners at Cannes Lions last week? We awarded the Grand Prix to G-Star Raw “Raw For The Oceans,” a clothing collection using a form of denim made from recycled plastic found in the ocean. G-Star Raw created it in collaboration with Pharrell Williams and Bionic Yarn. Other winners were Samsung’s “Food Showcase”...Continue reading
Here’s my article in AdAge, discussing the Cannes Lions jury gig. Lots of great designs were entered. Unfortunately, many suffered from a poor entry submission. They made the mistake of trying to sell us their products, rather than tell us about their designs. Or tell us why they deserve a design award. Still, a great showing for the...Continue reading
Here’s a link to a blog post on innovation that I wrote for PMP News (Pharmaceutical and Medical Packaging): Why Can’t We Be More Like Google? It’s easy to find out how Google innovates – just Google it. Google’s Chief Social Evangelist Gopi Kallayil reveals nine principles for innovation: 1. Innovation comes from anywhere. 2. Focus on the user. 3. Aim to be...Continue reading
Umm.. fly to Berlin to give a 9-minute talk? Sure, I’d like to visit Berlin. Actually we had a great session last Tuesday on design at the IFA+ Summit, and I had a chance to hear and meet some really good people. They included Carlo Ratti, director at MIT Senseable City Lab, Caroline Seifert, Senior Vice...Continue reading
Thanks Nadja Sayej for the article that appeared in Forbes, Dan Formosa On 9 Things to Stop Doing in Innovation. Following up on Google’s “nine principles for innovation,” here’s my list: 1. Stop designing things for old people 2. Stop saying “ethnography” 3. Stop making things simple 4. Stop coming up with answers 5. Stop listening...
As brilliant as Paul MacCready’s Gossamer Condor was in design, the way it was designed may have been equally as brilliant. Made of Mylar, the team was able to quickly repair damages and make modifications following a crash. So yes, they crashed, but they also instantly corrected. That was 1977. How many of us are...Continue reading
Had fun giving a talk, and running two workshops with Mike Jones at the Innovation4All conference in Oslo last week. Thanks to the Norwegian Centre for Design and Architecture, and the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at RCA in London for hosting the conference. The photo above shows Onny Eikhaug kicking off the conference. I posted...Continue reading
The 2014 Premier’s Design Awards Winners were announced in Melbourne this week – happy to have been a jury member. Congratulations to all the winning entries, which can be seen here: 2014 Premier’s Design Awards Winners
Here’s a link to a recent article I wrote for Fast Company, on why design needs to be great. Because if not, we’re going to know it as soon as it’s launched. Advertising is no longer just about advertising. Unlike the past, consumers now control the media. And we’re all paying attention. The Product is the Message.Continue reading
Thanks Deborah Stone and ArtsHub for including me in the 10 Designers article! Ten designers who are changing the world I’m in great company, including: Leah Heiss: Making jewellery that saves lives: John Bielenberg: Designing communities David Webster: Helping people walk again Kelo Kebu: Visualising history David Berman: Improving access for the blind Adrian Paterson:...Continue reading
I was thrilled to have served as jury president last month in the newly-formed Product Design category at Cannes Lions. First I need to thank the jury members, who were absolutely great to work and hang out with: Defne Koz, (Italy/USA), Gen Suzuki (Japan ), Jonas Pettersson (Sweden), Leonardo Massarelli (Brazil), Priscilla Shunmugam (Singapore), Ruth Berktold (Germany), Samuel Wilkinson (UK) and Tobias van...Continue reading
Happy to be on the jury for D&AD in London, at The Old Truman Brewery in east London, April 19 – 23. More info here about the events taking place: D&AD Judging Week.
On April 18 I’ll be speaking at the Bangladesh Brand Forum’s Rethinking Marketing seminar in Dhaka. From the BBF site: “2015 is a critical year for Bangladesh. On the one hand, the year, unfortunately, started with major political conflict which is still affecting businesses and their projected growth. On the other hand, philosophy of marketing...Continue reading
The HOW Design Live conference took place in in Atlanta this year. I participated in a double-session with a few other members of the SVA Masters in Branding faculty. With me were Debbie Millman (hosting the double-session discussions), Sem Devillart, Tom Guarriello and Richard Shear. Our topic: Death of the Supermarket. My topic – Why I Never Buy...Continue reading
Great look at, and revamp of, London’s 100-year-old Johnston100 typeface. Interesting how that typeface quietly defines the look of the entire city and city services, and has been doing so for 100 years. It’s getting an update, thanks to Nadine Chahine and company at Monotype. Additions include a hashtag (#), apparently not in frequent use in...Continue reading
Happy to conduct an evening seminar at Princeton University’s Keller Center, on design and innovation. The center is an entrepreneurial hub that provides space for startups being established by Princeton University’s faculty, students and alumni. The underlying theme of my talk – if we are going to innovate, how can we become comfortable with all the...Continue reading
For the July 2017 issue of Premier Guitar magazine I was asked to write an article explaining the basics of speaker design (All About Speakers.) Guitar amplifier speakers are quite different from those for audio amplifiers. Speakers intended for listening to recorded music are designed to produce an even response across a wide frequency spectrum....Continue reading